Toileting / Marking Problems in Dogs

House Training Your New Puppy

Toilet training (potty training) your puppy should start as soon as the puppy is home with you. You must be prepared to be patient and observant!

Knowing when your puppy is likely to relieve themselves by reading their body language is the key to success. There are mainly six times a day when a puppy should be accompanied outside for up to 20 minutes to toilet:

Before going to bed for the night

As soon as he wakes up

After a nap during the day

After eating

After exuberant play

After you return home from an outing.

Many people are surprised, having taken their puppy out for a walk, to find their puppy relieving itself as soon as they get back indoors. To avoid this, walk the puppy directly to his toilet area. Stand still and stay with him, allowing the puppy to lose interest in you. Do not sit down as this will only encourage the pup to jump on you and forget what he is out there for. Praise him if he performs. NEVER scold or rub his nose in any mistakes as this will teach your puppy to move out of sight or wait until you are not watching! Your puppy does not possess human logic, but will begin to form good habits through structured routines. Positive reinforcement when he does the right thing in the right place is the best and quickest potty training method.

Teaching Your Puppy To Go Outside

When training your puppy to go outside to relieve himself, LEAD him to where you want him to go, stay with him, praise him when he performs. Note that a male puppy sometimes takes longer to perform than a female.

By enlisting the professional help of a Bark Busters behavior therapist, you will be provided with additional tips and techniques to accelerate the housebreaking process. It is not uncommon for Bark Busters' clients to achieve a fully house-trained puppy within 2-3 weeks of the initial potty training.

Solving Toileting Problems With Adult Dogs

Toilet issues are not just confined to young pups, but can occur with adult dogs who were previously well house-trained. In this instance it's possible that your dog is "marking" its surroundings. This can be a dog's way of creating boundaries by using its scent, enabling him to feel safe and possibly protecting valuable food sources or pack members. On rare occasions there can be underlying medical or nutritional issues contributing to the problem. As with other behavioral issues it's important to look holistically at the problem in order to find the root cause. The root causes of inappropriate and latent onset of toileting issues with adult dogs can be many and varied. The good news is that these problems are almost always resolvable. The best thing to do is to consult a professional. Your Twin Cities Bark Busters dog trainer will provide expert advice and assistance to help you resolve the problem.

For further information and to find out how we can help you with your Minneapolis Saint Paul dog